Motivation

An essential (but sometimes overlooked) aspect of unit planning is determining the background knowledge of the students in the class. Equipped with an understanding of students’ background knowledge, teachers can design learning experiences to meet the needs of the students. This is important, because, “What students already know about the content is one of the…

One of my tried and tested favourites is the Three Level Reading Guide (3LG). The 3LG has been around for quite some time (see Morris & Stuart-Dore, 1984) but it still a highly relevant and engaging teaching tool. Here is how it works: Select a relevant written article (preferably about a topical issue) for students…

Gapminder is an interactive data-based resource that enables students to explore the world’s most important statistical trends. Data is available for hundreds of variables, from population to health to wealth to CO2 emissions! Go to the gapminder website for a general sticky beak or simply Gapminder World straight away. It can take a minute to load but…

“The process of writing history using primary sources involves a three-way interplay among the inquiry questions that propel the study, the close analysis of available sources, and knowledge of the context of the sources.” (Sexias & Morton, 2013, p.42). Accordingly, historical evidence from primary sources is central to this process. An often neglected category of…

The paradox of bright girls, as outlined by Dweck (2000) is simply this: bright girls achieve highly in primary school (higher than boys and higher in all subjects); however, they are not necessarily high achievers in high school. Dweck found that this group is particularly vulnerable to adopting helpless responses to new and challenging tasks…

The ‘commonly advocated practice of praising students for their intelligence’ has been under review for some time; however, a number of educators are now getting serious about shifting the way they praise in order to enable students to develop a Growth Mindset. Research conducted by Carol Dweck (2000) suggests that praising students for their intelligence…

Daniel Pink raises some interesting issues during an interview about his new book (conducted by Larry Ferlazzo). Pink shows how teachers must take the role of the ‘seller’ when implementing strategies to foster intrinsic motivation in students. If we want our students to be autonomous and self-driven learners, we need to convince students to part…